Me, my son, and a little hurricane named Matthew. (Updated 4/6 -- F&W time!)

[Beccybooboo]

Looking forward to hearing about you F&W adventures. Visiting during that time sounds like a lovely disney indulgence would love to take the grandparents for that one as they would love it.
Totally agree with you about RR its was one of our favourites on our trip to DL. That whole ride/theming is out of this world. Cant wait to go back there.
Love the food there too, eating in cars land was lots of fun. Flo's vanilla shake and food was yummy. Cosy cone was also a hit with us that yummy bread cones with the yummy fillings. Anyway enough about DL. Sorry my tastebuds took me away.
Cant wait to hear about the food at F&W.

 

[elcmum]

.
Totally agree with you about RR its was one of our favourites on our trip to DL. That whole ride/theming is out of this world. Cant wait to go back there.
Love the food there too, eating in cars land was lots of fun. Flo's vanilla shake and food was yummy. Cosy cone was also a hit with us that yummy bread cones with the yummy fillings. Anyway enough about DL. Sorry my tastebuds took me away.
Cant wait to hear about the food at F&W.

Do not stop on my account! Really loved DL. In fact, my kid ate more churros than anything at DL, and his one thing on his list to eat at WDW was a churro. Guess what?

Zero churros were eaten.

He told me that on the flight home. HAHA!

 

[elcmum]

Mary Poppins and a lot of food

Starbucks in hand... and we were off to F&W.

Tip: Before even heading to F&W, download an app to help plan your food choices. I went crazy before our trip and stalked online reviews, photos and vlogs and anything else I could find to help us dwindle down a list of food to eat. We ended up not eating everything on the list... but we also added a few things, too.

So, we had the plan in place of what to eat, and it was a bigger help than expected. (Note: I rarely drink alcohol as it makes me sleepy, so I’m sorry, you won’t see any of the fun drinks. I know, I was bummed, too.)

First off, we went to Greenhouse Guru by Future World.

Heirloom Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese, Aged Balsamic Vinegar, and Micro-Basil – $4.00. This was nice; it was definitely something I was able to enjoy all by myself. Loved the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, but I wished there was more goat cheese.

CJ wanted to visit the Chocolate Studio...

so he started with…

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel – $4.50

I couldn’t taste the alcohol, but the little nibble I had basically made me think I was eating frozen nutella. (In other words, no complaints.)

We stopped by Refreshment Port for the croissant donut ($4.99),

and I would advise giving this a miss, unless it is cooked fresh.

And for me… a Dole Whip!

It was $4.19, and the serving size was fairly decent.


This was the sky just before noon.

It was pretty much a perfect day, weather-wise. According to TouringPlans, the crowd level was a 5 that day… but it also doesn’t take into account the festival, just the rides. I felt like the F&W lines were pretty smooth and quick, and I really don’t think we waited an excessive amount of time in line for any booth… but there were long lines in some of the areas that were strictly booths selling alcohol.

We breezed past Canada (see below) and stopped in to check out the UK area, and somehow fell in line for the Mary Poppins meet and greet.

Mary was practically perfect, but for a little boy who hasn’t quite learned the art of enunciating words and speaks as if he has marbles in his mouth (ten points if you get that pop culture reference), I had to explain to her what he was mumbling about.

(Oh, heavens. The fan.

He ended up wanting to buy a fan and it took about twenty minutes to buy the bloody thing. The purchase started in Canada but they couldn’t check us out, and sent us to the UK to actually pay for it. We could have walked off and ripped them off, but I am a big believer in karma and that it will kick you down and drive over you for even the smallest transgression.)


I hated the fan. (Until 3pm, and then I loved it.)

We stopped in France and watched the French acrobat, which was actually really amusing… and utterly terrifying to someone who is afraid of heights.

Someone did not want escargot, so we pressed on!


I wanted to sit down for awhile, so we went to Les Halles. If you haven’t been there, it looks a million times better than these photos. Even if you aren't going to buy anything, just go in and ogle the food. It’s where I want to eat when it isn’t F&W… but we ordered lunch, anyway.

When in France, right?

CJ had a ham and cheese croissant,

and I had the quiche.

Both were really good, although the quiche was cold, and I wished I asked for it to be warmed slightly.

Tables were hard to find inside, so we sat outside L’Artisan…

and before you knew it, someone was in line to get a small scoop.

Around 1pm we made our way over to Morroco, where the details are absolutely spectactular and breathtaking. Thanks to all the tile, it’s actually nice and cool in the area, too.

We plugged on over to Japan…

… where someone was obsessed with the pick-a-pearl...

...erasers...

... and pocky.

We ended up buying the pocky, and returned later for something else!

I wish I had a photo of the little sake bar; it looked so quiet and quaint and relaxing. If only I liked sake...

Oh my gosh, look at the sky. It was so beautiful.

So, only about 185 photos to weed through for you guys...

Next: More food, FEA and my thoughts on the ride, and bloody expensive Mickey ears!

 

[oceanmarina]

Joining in here - just binge read your trip report . What a wonderful mother son trip! Your son is adorable, he takes great pictures. My kids only grudgingly pose for pictures so it's so nice to see a kid show some personality in pictures - he made me laugh a few times. We were at WDW during Hurricane Irene - which went past Florida while we got the outer-outer bands of rain for a few days, once it passed Florida and made landfall in the Carolinas I think we had the most beautiful weather for the last few days of our trip. - and a bumpy plane ride home as the air in the sky was still unsettled from the hurricane . but I remember thinking how beautiful the weather was once the storm had passed . looking forward to your next update

 

[Beccybooboo]

Do not stop on my account! Really loved DL. In fact, my kid ate more churros than anything at DL, and his one thing on his list to eat at WDW was a churro. Guess what?

Zero churros were eaten.

He told me that on the flight home. HAHA!

Thanks we love DL too.
Haha Churros. Yes this was India's favourite food at DL too.
When we got home I asked her what her favourite thing about our first trip to Disney and guess what her reply was.

Yep Churros. Not the Castle not the princesses or the rides. Just the Churros. Hahaha. Lucky for us donut king brought out a churro not long after we arrived home so she was able to get her fix for a while when they were selling them.

It was also on her to do list for DW. She had her first one on our first park day and then it was trumped by the cronut at Epcot. We had to try this one as we love croissants and cinnamon donuts so it was a no brainer. Once I got her the first cronut after she tried that I asked her which one she liked better and she replied by pointing at the cronut with the biggest smile haha. She said they were heaven(she is not wrong)

After that it was cronuts all the way. So she had a total of 1 churro the whole trip (47 days) and probably 47 churros on our DL trip 11days.

Funniest thing was when I told her that on our next trip to DL they dont have the cronut she replied Noooooooooo!!!!

 

[Beccybooboo]

CJ wanted to
We stopped by Refreshment Port for the croissant donut ($4.99),

and I would advise giving this a miss, unless it is cooked fresh.

Just after my pp I read this. So CJ wasnt a fan of the cronut.
Guess we were lucky as ours were hot and yummy. Maybe they needed to have pre prepared ones for F&W.

 

[Beccybooboo]

Liquid Nitro Chocolate Almond Truffle with Warm Whiskey Caramel – $4.50

I couldn’t taste the alcohol, but the little nibble I had basically made me think I was eating frozen nutella. (In other words, no complaints.)
[/QUOTE]

Love the description.
They had something like this the called frozen nutella ice at the star wars dessert party which India loved. It was also in liquid nitro.

 

[Beccybooboo]

We also went to Les Halles. We should have got the crossiant CJ had. India had that we opted for the ham and cheese toastie. I forget what it was called but that is what it basically was. Was a mistake It was dry and very over priced $8 I believe could have brought so many other yummy things but hadn't had breakfast. Maybe that added to the fact that our choice wasnt the best. Oh well lesson learnt. Didnt get to go back to try all those delicious looking desserts.

 

[elcmum]

but I remember thinking how beautiful the weather was once the storm had passed . looking forward to your next update

Thanks so much for chiming in! And I remember being back home and hearing about Hurricane Irene! Glad you were able to get through it safely!

Funniest thing was when I told her that on our next trip to DL they dont have the cronut she replied Noooooooooo!!!!

Yes! Fresh would have made it better. And probably with a giant cup of water, too!

Love the description.
They had something like this the called frozen nutella ice at the star wars dessert party which India loved. It was also in liquid nitro.

Yes! It's probably the same thing. Looks pretty cool with how they make it, too! I would just want to be the person who plays with the nitrogen.

We also went to Les Halles. We should have got the crossiant CJ had. India had that we opted for the ham and cheese toastie. I forget what it was called but that is what it basically was. Was a mistake It was dry and very over priced $8 I believe could have brought so many other yummy things but hadn't had breakfast. Maybe that added to the fact that our choice wasnt the best. Oh well lesson learnt. Didnt get to go back to try all those delicious looking desserts.

BOOO! Yes, I ate a bite of the croissant. It was diiiiiviiiiiine! The desserts looked amazing, too, but I knew wanted to eat a million things at F&W so I had to sadly pass.

 

[Beccybooboo]

Yes! Fresh would have made it better. And probably with a giant cup of water, too!

Yes! It's probably the same thing. Looks pretty cool with how they make it, too! I would just want to be the person who plays with the nitrogen.

BOOO! Yes, I ate a bite of the croissant. It was diiiiiviiiiiine! The desserts looked amazing, too, but I knew wanted to eat a million things at F&W so I had to sadly pass.

Water and wet ones haha.

Yes left overs from food and wine lol. It was cool to watch them make.

I would have passed for F&W options too!

 

[elcmum]

Food, glorious food!

We made a stop in to the America pavilion and reaaaaaally enjoyed the cool air. After about ten minutes the Voices of Liberty paraded out for a few songs and I will be honest with you -- my little Australian heart swelled with American pride.

We also went in and watched the Hall of Presidents, where I basically spent the time thinking how creepy some of the mannerisms and twitchiness of the presidents were so life-like. You watch one of them talking, and off in the corner someone else is giving a side eye to the president next to him or adjusting their stance, so the level of details were spectacular.

And then it was time for Italy!

It was around Italy that I really noticed the groups were starting to pick up. It was just after 2pm, and there were more “drinking around the world” and crazy bachelorette parties going around and just being very loud and almost disrespectful.

I ogled the smells coming out of Via Napoli, because I really would have loved to have eaten there…

...but we instead left and went to Germany!

I totally dig the miniature trains. My brother and father were huge train fans and we had sets all around our garage back home, so I appreciate the level of detail that goes into the little villages. I especially loved this little house, which has been devastated by the storm of the giant pennies… and also the fact that this family really love their beers, since the scale of them are way off and the beer glass would be the size of a mop bucket for humans.

Do you have photos in your family where you are trying to line the person up to see if it can make them appear that they are holding an object, like pinching the Eiffel Tower or pushing the Tower of Pisa?

I present to you our attempt to make C appear as if he was holding the top of the statue.

This was as close as he got. I think I actually said, "yep -- got it!". Horrible parent, I know.

I loved the little Christmas ornaments in Germany and almost bought this ornament. I didn’t… but I will be buying it this year!

We were off to Karamell Kuche and spent time in line watching the CMs. We were sooooo cloooooose to buying a snack, but between the two of us we couldn’t agree on what we wanted and decided we’d rather go to another F&W booth.

Voila!

Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce – $3.75
Eh. It was okay. The pastry wasn’t fresh, but the apples tasted decent. If this is back this year we will pass on it.

But this… this is something we could have eaten five of, and cannot waiiiiiiiit to return in the hopes it is back.

Korean-style BBQ Beef with Steamed Rice and Cucumber Kimchi - $5.25

This was amazing. The beef had a really concentrated flavour, the beef was perfect, the rice was like eating minuscule pillows, and the kimchi… well, let’s just say that I have a child who hated eating anything that could be construed as cucumber until this moment. It was cold and crisp and was just a really nice contrast to the beef and rice. We both loved it so much, we went back for a second.

This was so good, I ended up coming home and tried very hard to reconstruct the meal for ourselves.

It was almost 3pm when we went to see the movie in China.

I kind of liked the movie, although I wouldn’t make it a must-do.

We really enjoyed China in WS; CJ was comparing his belly to Buddha’s.

(In the world of competitive swimming in our state, age group swimmers -- like him -- don’t swim the entire month of August. He spent the month of August eating like he was still swimming six days a week and developed his own little belly. By the time of our trip in October, he still had a little remnant of a belly but not as big as Buddha’s.)

And we loved the puppets, too.

I’m not going to lie… I probably spent about ten minutes just playing with them, too.

We moved over to Norway where…

I don’t have the words.

The theming was…

I can’t say spectacular again. I need a word.

Let’s just say that all the details -- big and little -- made this a complete delight.

The wood panelling and shingles…

Shutters and the grass…

I just loved this area.

I loved the gift shop, too…

.... along with the bakery.

The school bread was sublime.

I didn’t expect the custard to be chilled, but it was delicious. I could easily see this in an Australian bakery as it is so middle flavoured.

CJ had the chocolate mousse which was wayyyyyyy too rich.

He didn’t eat much more of this before proclaiming he was going to die of thirst. I would suggest only buying this if you have no concern of diabetes in your family or you are willing to share it with three friends.


I’ll leave it there for today, with just a photo hint of where we went next…

Next - is Australia all that at F&W?

 

[Beccybooboo]

The school bread was sublime.

I didn’t expect the custard to be chilled, but it was delicious. I could easily see this in an Australian bakery as it is so middle flavoured.

I am a custard freak well our whole family loves custard so we had to try this one.
I was the only one that liked it. But I would rather a vanilla slice.
It reminded me of a cream bun but with custard.

That Korean beef looks amazing.

 

[elcmum]

I am a custard freak well our whole family loves custard so we had to try this one.
I was the only one that liked it. But I would rather a vanilla slice.
It reminded me of a cream bun but with custard.

I would rather a vanilla slice, too! Go have one for me. I belong to an Aussie club here and one of the other mums always makes vanilla slice. It's so nice to have a taste of home every now and then.

 

[Beccybooboo]

Coming next -- is Australia all that at F&W?

It will be good to have an Aussie's opinion on this.

 

[Beccybooboo]

I would rather a vanilla slice, too! Go have one for me. I belong to an Aussie club here and one of the other mums always makes vanilla slice. It's so nice to have a taste of home every now and then.

Thats cool about the Aussie club.
I will have one in your honor.

 

[macraven]

the food looks sooooo good...

 

[DeterminedOne]

Loving your report. I did not know there was an app for F&W. Thanks

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

That is really cute! My MIL would love that except she doesn't put up a Christmas tree each year. Oh well.

This was as close as he got. I think I actually said, "yep -- got it!". Horrible parent, I know.

Ha! Love It!

This was so good, I ended up coming home and tried very hard to reconstruct the meal for ourselves.

ALWAYS a sign that it's a good meal!

I kind of liked the movie, although I wouldn’t make it a must-do.

I felt that way about the France Movie...

Shutters and the grass…

I loved the grass as well! I am not sure why but I thought it was so fun.

Coming next -- is Australia all that at F&W?

Can't wait to hear if it lived up to your standards.

 

[elcmum]

Thats cool about the Aussie club.
I will have one in your honor.

YES! Please do! I just ate a substandard cupcake in honour of my son's birthday tomorrow (quality testing, of course) and wish there was something Aussie involved.

the food looks sooooo good...

Yes! It was aammmmmmaaaziinnng. That was the reason we were going back! My kid didn't want the rides, just F&W!

Loving your report. I did not know there was an app for F&W. Thanks

I seriously recommend it! You could sort things by what you wanted to try, things you had already tried, and actually rate what you ate.

That is really cute! My MIL would love that except she doesn't put up a Christmas tree each year. Oh well.


Ha! Love It!


ALWAYS a sign that it's a good meal!


I felt that way about the France Movie...


I loved the grass as well! I am not sure why but I thought it was so fun.


Can't wait to hear if it lived up to your standards.

Thank you!!! And I was going to take a night off from writing an update, but now I hate that I've left you hanging! I may try to squeeze in a quick report.

 

[elcmum]

Is Australia all that at Food & Wine?

We were near the Australia booth…

...and then decided to wait until later to try the food.

Ditto, NZ.

(We never actually did make it back to the NZ booth; I don’t eat seafood, venison, or anything that is tremendously spicy, so I passed on regrets to the kiwis at the booth. I will say that Kim Crawford's Sauv Blanc is my most favourite wine ever, and I've never had her Pinot Gris, so I was tempted... but, well, it wasn't sleepy time.)


Ahh…. my blessed little lambchop, along with a lovely poster!

We had a FPP for Spaceship Earth and missed the window for entry. I really wasn’t paying attention and the wait was only about ten minutes, so it wasn’t a big deal.

We said thank you to the Phoenicians and checked out the funkily-attired folk before zooming off to the future…

...where apparently we look eerily like the couple that sat right in front of us.

I’m not a blonde… but welcome to my future!

We decided to brave the LONG line for Soarin’, and are probably the only ones who didn’t mind the queue. I kind of liked the trivia, although I couldn’t figure out how to connect to play and so we just had to answer the questions ourselves.

Around 5pm we made it on the ride, and apparently my son’s hair was reaching crazy heights, just like the ride.

And here’s a blurry photo of the mechanics, because someone made me take it.

So, let’s talk about the ride. I never rode the old one, but we did ride SOC at DCA and thought it was wonderful. For this one, we waited to sit in the B section, although I recall we were in the second row. There were some weird distortion issues and I hated the scene cuts, and so I really don’t understand the fascination and love of the ride. There must be something I’m missing, because I like the ride, but I don’t luuuuurrrrrrve it.

Tell me I’m crazy and I’m wrong, because I want to lurrrrrve it.

We hightailed it over to Living with the Land where someone’s hair was reduced in height. This photo makes him look like he has a freakishly large man-size arm.

Ahh, breadfruit. I could use you when my kids announce we only have three slices of bread left at breakfast. I would just run outside, snap a loaf of bread off the tree, and bring it inside and feed the hungry monsters.

Yay! Australia!

I approve of this tree. Especially to go along with my breadfruit tree.

Ugh. Cotton. I have some sensory issues and haaaaate the feeling of cotton between my fingers. Same with cotton buds!

Love the mickey topiary!

And this was the sky at 6:13pm.

Oh! I almost forgot. Here's some cute PP pics from the day.

And my FAVOURITE!

next: I will finally get to FEA, the most expensive Mickey ears, and amazing eats at F&W.